We include the statutory Relationships and Health Education within our whole-school PSHE Programme. Relationships and Health Education (including puberty and menstruation) will be compulsory in all primary schools in England and Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) will be compulsory in all secondary schools. This is in response to the growing risks children and young people may face through online activities and the need to support them to be safe and healthy, and manage their academic, personal and social lives in a positive way. 

Our schemes of work have been carefully considered to ensure progression and a spiral curriculum. Please see our long-term plan to see where the units of work fit within our curriculum. Regular reviews, monitoring and updates ensure that we use the most up to date teaching materials and that our teachers are well-supported. 

What is aim of Relationship and Sex Education? 

Relationship and Sex Education (RSE) is part of a lifelong learning about physical, moral, and emotional development. RSE is centred on personal safety, caring for others and building strong relationships. The DfE states that ‘’Pupils are taught about what a relationship is, what a friendship is, what family means and who the people are that can support them.’’ Respect is a key component of where pupils learn and understand the differences between appropriate and inappropriate or unsafe physical, and other, contact which then leads onto consent in secondary school. 

Effective relationship and sex education is essential if young people are to make responsible and well-informed decisions about their lives. We aim to inform pupils, presenting relevant facts in an objective and balanced manner. The Spire Church of England Trust will help young people learn to respect themselves and others, enabling them to move with confidence through childhood and the beginning stages of adolescence, empowering them with the knowledge and confidence to prepare them for their journey to adulthood.  

Intended outcomes for RSE at The Spire Church of England Trust will enable:  

• Opportunities to clarify some of their attitudes towards friendships, sexuality, and gender.  

• Opportunities to discuss some moral issues – hearing the points of view of others and respecting other peoples’ decisions, rights, and bodies. 

• A chance to explore ideas about family, parenting and the ways in which people care for each other.  

• A safe environment for pupils to understand their bodies and bodily functions.  

• Provide information which is realistic and relevant, and which reinforces positive social norms.  

• The promotion of positive mental wellbeing and self-perception.  

RSE is embedded within our PSHE programme, and we select activities and resources which are age, experience, and culturally appropriate. Objective discussion of diversity in sexual orientation will be addressed in order to meet the needs of all students. 

This is coupled with teaching students about the human body and its changes during puberty, including information about reproduction, sexuality, and sexual relationships.  

Teaching will reflect the society that we now live in, including ensuring that RSE fosters gender equality and LGBT+ equality by teaching about LGBT+ people, relationships, and families.  

What is the aim of Relationships Education? 

The aim of Relationship Education is to teach the fundamental building blocks and characteristics of positive relationships, with reference to friendships, family relationships, and relationships with other children and adults. This aim is to create opportunities to ensure children are taught about positive emotional and mental wellbeing and how friendships can impact on this. Children will also be taught, in an age-appropriate way, to recognise and report different types of abuse, including emotional, physical and sexual. This will include focusing on boundaries and privacy so that children understand that they have rights over their own bodies and know how to seek advice when they suspect or know something is wrong. There will also be opportunities to teach children about boundaries with their peers, including when they are online, and ensuring they learn that where abuse takes place it is never the fault of the child who is abused.